I was listening to the radio this morning and the classic Christopher Cross song "Sailing" came on, and I was immediately transported back in time to my senior year of high school, when that song was everywhere.
I can still sing every word of that song. I have the vinyl album somewhere.
As my friend Robert Evans writes in his column The Main Ingredient, music is very powerful. "It is so powerful in touching us, that it is second only to smell in generating memories. In a flood of detail, we will recall a specific event or person when we hear a certain song."
One of the first songs I remember as a small child is 500 Miles. My mother used to sing it to me. When I lived in a different city from her (which was the case from 1980-2005), and I missed her, all I had to do was start singing that song and I would start crying.
When I was around 6 I decided I wouldn't wear anything but white Go Go boots. These Boots Are Made for Walkin' was my theme song. My ambition was to be a Go Go dancer.
The first song I ever learned all the words to, from listening to it on the radio, is Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. I learned to love the Bachrach/David songs from hearing that song.I remember it was part of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but I didn't see the movie until a few years later.
It was no surprise, then when I was in fourth grade and The Carpenters became popular, and Close to You became their first huge hit. I could sing along with Karen Carpenter and match her voice exactly. I spent a lot of time learning every word to every song on that album.
above, 4th grade
Those were the years [I was 8 and 9 years old] when I liked to stand on the porch of the Holmes' house next door, record player on the the floor, and Kristy and I would be holding mics [hairbrushes] and entertaining wildly enthusiastic audiences with our daring vocals and enthusiastic dancing. Of course, the audience was entirely in our imagination, but it didn't matter. The Carpenters and the Partridge Family were our favorites.
We were talking about David Cassidy the other night at dinner, because his daughter is on Fox sometimes, and I launched into "I Think I Love You", much to Michael's disgust. I still know all the lyrics.
I couldn't do Algebra if you held a loaded gun to my head, but I can recall lyrics to 1970's pop songs without any trouble.
If I were ever taken hostage by terrorists and locked in a cell, I would probably just sing every pop song I know, and the time would pass quickly and pleasantly. As long as there were no bugs...
Fourth grade, I would get to school early and have time to kill before class, and we would be allowed to listen to records, wearing headphones. Several of us would sit around and listen to American Pie, and we all tried very hard to memorize the lyrics. I remember saving my allowance so I could buy the 45 at the White Store [we weren't all about diversity in West Knoxville] and when I bought it, I accidentally put it on the car seat, forgot it was there, and sat on it and broke it. Even Elmers glue couldn't fix it.
Middle school was when I discovered R&B and soul music. Every Saturday, I would listen to Kasey Kasem count down the Top 40, and the song Me and Mrs. Jones stayed at number 1 for weeks and weeks. I knew all the words, but I was afraid if my mom listened closely and realized it was about marital infidelity she wouldn't let me listen to Kasey Kasem any more.
For several years, it was John Denver that I adored. Forget David Cassidy. I was going to be Mrs. John Denver, as soon as I grew up. I loved Annie's Song then, and I still love it. I heard it playing in a store not long ago, and I sang the whole thing. It's a beautiful waltz.
above, 6th grade or thereabouts, at our cottage on Douglas Lake
I also listened to mainstream radio, and the daring FM station, WOKI. I vividly remember 1974, being on the bus to Webb School Day Camp, and hearing Rikki Don't Lose That Number. Lord, that camp was awful. Nobody talked to me there. Everybody went to Webb, not Cedar Bluff. I was an outsider, and I was shy. I think of that even now, when I hear the song.
I loved The Captain and Tennille, and Love Will Keep Us Together, but I also loved You Sexy Thing, by Hot Chocolate. I was getting into Stevie Wonder long before my peers did, and who didn't love Rubberband Man by the Spinners, or My First My Last My Everything by the immortal Barry White?!
Then came the juggernaut that was Saturday Night Fever. My brother bought the soundtrack on cassette and I learned every word to every song. I remember parties of giggling girls where all we did was giggle, play the Saturday Night Fever music, eat Cheetos and drink Mr. Pibb.
Yep, we knew how to party.
Then, of course, high school. It seemed like Earth Wind and Fire provided the soundtrack to every party during those years. I bought every album. Even now, it's my "happy" music.
Hope you've enjoyed my little nostalgia post.
